9397. 'And read it in the ears of the people' means to be listened to and obeyed. This is clear from the meaning of 'reading' as to be listened to, for when something is read, it is in order that it may be heard, discerned, and obeyed, that is, listened to; and from the meaning of 'in the ears' as to be obeyed, for 'the ears' and 'hearing' mean obeying, 2542, 3869, 4551, 4652-4660, 5471, 5475, 7216, 8361, 8990, 9311.

[2] Since not only hearing and discerning are meant by 'the ears' but also obeying, expressions such as 'speak in their ears' and 'read in their ears' are used very often in the Word, not speak or read to them, as in Jeremiah,

Hear these words which I speak in your ears and in the ears of all the people. Jeremiah 28:7.

In the first Book of Samuel,

They spoke those words in the ears of the people. 1 Samuel 11:4.

And elsewhere in that book,

Let your maidservant speak in your ears. 1 Samuel 25:24.

In the Book of Judges,

Proclaim in the ears of the people, saying ... Judges 7:3.

In Moses,

Say in the ears of the people. Exodus 11:2.

In the same author,

Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgements which I speak in your ears today. Deuteronomy 5:1.

In the same author,

I speak in their ears these words. Deuteronomy 31:28.

In the same author,

And Moses spoke all the words of the song in the ears of the people. Deuteronomy 32:44.

In the second Book of Kings,

He read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant. 2 Kings 23:2.

In Jeremiah,

They said to him, Sit and read it in our ears. And Baruch read it in their ears. Jeremiah 36:15.

In Luke,

When Jesus had finished all the words in the people's ears ... Luke 7:1.

[3] Because 'the ear' and 'hearing' mean receiving, discerning, and obeying truth, thus mean belief from start to finish, it was said many times by the Lord, He who has an ear to hear, let him hear, as in Matthew 11:15; 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9, 23; 7:16; Luke 14:35. And since 'the deaf' or 'those who do not hear' mean in the spiritual sense people with no belief in the truth because they have no knowledge nor consequently any discernment of it, 6989, 9209, the Lord, when He cured the one who was deaf, put His finger into his ears and said, Ephphatha (that is, Be opened), and immediately his ears were opened, Mark 7:32-35. All the Lord's miracles involved and were signs of states of the Church, see 8364, 9086.

8991. 'And he shall serve him forever' means into eternity. This is clear from the meaning of 'serving' as obeying, for slaves are those who obey and masters those who give orders (the fact that those represented by 'slaves' are those who did what was good from obedience, not from charitable affection, is clear from things stated previously); and from the meaning of 'forever' as into eternity. In the sense of the letter 'forever' here means servitude with his master to the end of his life; but in the internal or spiritual sense it means into eternity, because it refers to the state after death. The expression 'into eternity' is used because those who do what is good from faithful obedience and not from charitable affection, who were represented by 'slaves', cannot ever be brought in the next life to a state of good, that is, so that their actions spring from good; for everyone's life remains with them after death. What a person is like when he dies, so he continues to be, in keeping with the common saying, Where the tree falls, there it lies. Not that he continues to be what he is like around the time of death but what the whole course of his life has made him like when he dies. Therefore those who have learned during life in the world to do what is good solely from obedience, not from charity, remain the same into eternity. They are perfected in obedience, it is true, but they do not attain any degree of charity.